As mainland China continues its crackdown on Christian churches, it has not overlooked the churches in Hong Kong, which are now experiencing "intense pressure" from the Chinese Communist Party.
A recent report from Reuters reveals that China seeks to control the Catholic church in Hong Kong to silence pro-democracy voices within it. One way it wants to do this is by appointing the next bishop for the city.
Some clergy members said China wants to use in Hong Kong an agreement it has with the Holy See that gives it an influence in choosing prelates. However, Vatican officials claimed the agreement excluded Hong Kong because the city was semi-autonomous from the mainland.
Hong Kong hasn't had a bishop since Michael Yeung died in January 2019. The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples appointed Cardinal John Tong as the diocese's Apostolic Administrator in the absence of a bishop.
Four people, who refused to be identified, told Reuters that the cardinal has been restraining pro-democracy voices within the Catholic church by telling the priests to refrain from political sermons and from using words that cause "social disorder."
The sources also said Tong targeted the diocese's Justice and Peace Commission, which upholds religious liberty. In October, his curia censored the commission's statement on the relations between China and the Vatican. The curia deleted a reference to Bishop James Su Zhimin of Baoding, Hebei province, who was arrested 36 years ago and was never seen again.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, former Bishop of Hong Kong, said the Catholic church in the city no longer enjoys its freedom of speech.
"We are at the bottom of the pit - there is no freedom of expression anymore," the cardinal said. "All these things are normal in mainland China. We are becoming like any other city in China."
He added that authorities in Hong Kong can now accuse anyone from the church of "offending the National Security Law" for saying "any word," something that the office of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam contradicts by saying religious liberty is protected in the city.
An unofficial, low-profile diplomatic mission of the Vatican in Kowloon is also under attack. In May, authorities arrested two nuns who worked there when the nuns went to Hebei province for a visit.
The nuns were detained for three weeks, after which they were put under house arrest. Authorities have prohibited them from going out of the mainland. They were not given any formal charge.
Nuns in the mainland are usually left alone, which is why Hong Kong clerics believe the arrest of the two nuns is an indication that CCP doesn't want the continued presence of the Vatican's diplomatic mission in the city.
Despite this, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the existence of such a diplomatic mission.
"As far as we know, the Vatican has not set up any official representative institution in Hong Kong," the ministry said in a statement.
Authorities have also targeted the evangelical churches in Hong Kong. In December last year, police raided the Good Neighbor North District Church's Kwun Tong and Fanling branches because it allegedly falsely declared the amount they raised from their crowd funding campaigns.
The raid was conducted after HSBC froze the church's account and the accounts of its pastor and his wife. The police reportedly ordered HSBC to freeze the said accounts.
The Good Neighbor North District Church is known to have supported pro-democracy protesters in 2019.
Evangelical Christians in Hong Kong are preparing for the worst, according to a recent report from the International Christian Concern. Hong Kong Christian churches are also struggling against division, with some being pro-democracy and others being pro-Beijing.
